MYANMAR – PPNM, the all-Myanmar prisoners’ network, said that there are sexual threats and violence against LGBTQ+ inmates in prisons.
Some people are trying to get sexual advantage from young and student political prisoners by allowing them to go freely in prison, with food, exemption from work, the right to wear casual wear, and the right to take a bath as they like.
Mr. Ye Yint Ko ( alias) Ye Ye, a prisoner who was sentenced to 96 years in prison by the Military Council on charges of armed violence in September 2021, was tried to rape by “Pyu Gyi”, who was sentenced to death for another crime. Ye Yint Ko had to be treated in the prison hospital after being hit with a stone by “Pyu Gyi” in the first week of February because he refused Pyu Gyi.
“Prisoners who tried to defend the sexual violence were sometimes attacked and arrested, but the perpetrators were not punished,” U Thai Tun Oo of PPNM said.
To effectively protect LGBTQ+ politicians who are still in prison by prison officials, PPNM likes to inform the public and international organizations, including the Junta Council.
According to the Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners (AAPP) on May 3rd, 2024, 26,620 political prisoners have been detained in prisons across Myanmar since the coup, of which 6,215 have been released and 20,405 are still in prison.